Getting Started Guide for Faith Communities
This guide is designed to help faith community leaders introduce The Conversation Project’s mission and free resources in the communities they know and serve. It is filled with examples of how diverse faith communities are encouraging their members to engage in thoughtful reflection and have conversations about their health care wishes through the end of life with those that matter to them and health care providers
Also see our Getting Started Guide for Communities for additional ideas about who to engage and how to introduce the importance of conversations into your community. And our Tips for Facilitating and Teaching about The Conversation Project.
Preaching
Sermons
- Have The Conversation: by Rev. Katy Hyman, BCC, MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center and First Congregational Church of Long Beach, CA
- The Conversation: by Rabbi Esther Adler, Mount Zion Temple, Saint Paul, MN
- Generation to Generation: by The Rev. Dr. Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister, Old South Church, Boston, MA
- Lech L’cha- a Conversation Sabbath Dvar Torah: by Amy Shutkin, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Piedmont, CA
- Let’s Have the Conversation: by Rabbi Carl M. Perkins, Temple Aliyah, Needham, MA
- Talking Through Loss: by Rabbi Philip H. Sherman, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley, MA
- Talking with Loved Ones about Last Wishes: by Rev. Catharine Harris, Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Boulder, CO
- While I’m Here: by Rev. Frank Clarkson, Universalist Unitarian Church, Haverhill, MA
- Conversation Sabbath: A Homily: by Fr. Leandro, St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Columbia, MD (Spanish language version)
- A Gift of Immeasurable Worth: by Jenny Buckley, RN, BSN, CHPN, Weinstein Hospice and Congregation Etz Chaim, Marietta, GA
Programs
- Guide to Organizing Faith Based Events
- An introduction to hosting events and tips for getting started.
- How Faith Communities Facilitate Conversations Around End-of-Life Concerns
- Interviews show the benefits of training and engagement on advance care planning.
- TCP Standard Slide Deck for Faith Based Events
- A customizable power point presentation with script, tips, and notes to facilitate conversations using our Guide.
- Example Programs
- Thoughtful Endings, a five-part, nondenominational series of events held by The Conversation Project in Boulder County.
- Conversation Sabbath
- An invitation to clergy to teach and preach about the importance of having The Conversation. Rather than specify certain dates, we encourage you to pick a time frame that works for your community to host a Conversation Sabbath. To get started…
- Read the fact sheet for more information.
- Listen to our webinar recording and/or review the slides.
- Invite clergy to participate using this document.
- Promote your event with our save the date poster.
- An invitation to clergy to teach and preach about the importance of having The Conversation. Rather than specify certain dates, we encourage you to pick a time frame that works for your community to host a Conversation Sabbath. To get started…
Case Studies
- Planning Ahead: One Church’s Journey to Normalizing Conversations about What Matters Most in Life, Death, and Dying
- Lessons on Engaging Youth and Faith Settings as Conversation Catalysts
- Engaging Faith Leaders and Other Lessons
Pastoral Care
- Video playlist: Sage Voices
- A series of YouTube videos produced by the Jewish Theological Society’s Center for Pastoral Education as part of What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life.
- Video: Catholic Teaching on End-Of-Life Decision-Making
- Created by New York State Catholic Conference.
Webinar Series: Bringing Advance Care Planning Conversations to Your Congregation
Congregations are ideal settings for beginning to talk about what matters most to people when it comes to making decisions about the kind of health care they want and don’t want in the face of very serious illness. For six weeks, The Conversation Project’s advisor to faith, Rosemary Lloyd, hosted a free, web-based course on how to infuse having conversations about crucial, values-centered health care decision-making into the life and work of faith communities.
To access the webinar recordings and slides, please click the links below:
- Session 1: The Conversation Project: Reaching People Where They Live, Work, and Pray
- Session 2: Getting Started in Congregations: Pause, Reflect, Assess, Set a Goal
- Session 3: Sermons and Teaching & Conversation Sabbath
- Session 4: Pastoral Care
- Session 5: Programming Advance Care Planning in Your Setting
- Session 6: Bringing It Together and Bringing It to Your Congregation